


Whipping Boy

by laikachi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Electroshock Torture, I haven't decided yet, Pressure Point Torture, Psychological Torture, Waterboarding, it might just be hurt, kink meme de-anon, prepare yourself for the pain, there might be comfort, this hurts my soul, torture fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-11 17:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 5,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7901572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laikachi/pseuds/laikachi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kink Meme De-Anon</p><p>[Pidge manages to retake the Castle of Lions, but not before Sendak escapes with his captives. As a prisoner of the Zarkon, Shiro does his best to fight back and escape, and utterly fails. But Shiro is too valuable an experiment to injure, so Zarkon makes him watch while they punish Lance instead.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> De-Anon from this prompt: https://voltron-kink.dreamwidth.org/1161.html?thread=8841#cmt8841
> 
> JUST IN CASE IT WASN'T CLEAR ENOUGH BEFORE, THERE IS GOING TO BE VERY GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF TORTURE. If that doesn't float your boat, turn back now! If you read it and ignore this warning, then I have no sympathy for you.

[Shiro POV] 

 

  Shiro looks out the pod window, and it feels like his lungs are constricting as Arus becomes a speck in the dark expanse of space. He's desperate to fight, and every part of him wants to resist and escape. One look to his left, and a warning from his captor reminds him why he doesn't. At least, not yet.

  The limp, unconscious body of Lance has been roughly dumped next to him and Shiro doesn't know if he's still breathing. He stays put and glares at Sendak's back as they're flown away from their friends and into Galra territory. Flashes of the gladiatorial ring, the druids, the less fortunate captives as they are dragged from the cell they'd shared, make Shiro shiver in both terror and anger. He hates to think that he's going back to that. Worse yet, that Lance is also going to experience these things. He grinds his teeth.


	2. Chapter 2

 [Shiro POV]

 

  Shiro is woken up by two rough sentries grabbing him by his arms and yanking him up to walk. He sees that they can't get Lance up, so they just drag him. He hears a faint whimper of pain from his teammate and feels anger bubbling up inside him once again.

  "Stop it! Stop!" Shiro thrusts his shoulder into one of the guards holding him and runs to Lances side. Trying to grapple with his hands tied proves futile and he goes down. He glares up at the guards that surround them, and sees Sendak smirk. The Galran shoves the guards aside, and uses his robotic hand to hoist Shiro up, his toes just brushing the ground.

  "What do you hope to accomplish? You are surrounded and alone." Sendak looks down at Lance and a snort escapes him. "It doesn't look like your backup is coming to help you either." Sendak throws Shiro to the ground and laughs when Shiro bounces off the ground painfully.

  Shiro feels the air leave his lungs, and he gasps to get it back. He rolls to his side, and winces as his fresh bruises make themselves known.

  “Stop that, you’ll damage him.” Shiro’s eyes snap open at the familiar sound of the Druid’s voice. It grates on his ears and he tenses up involuntarily. “No. He’s too valuable a pawn to break at this stage.”

  “Then how do you suggest we subdue him, hm? The Champion has too much fight in him, as you can clearly see.” Sendak sounds frustrated, and Shiro can tell that these two don’t see eye to eye. The air is tense, until the silence is broken by a very painful sounding groan. Shiro lifts his head and can see that Lance is finally waking up.


	3. Chapter 3

[Lance POV]

  Lance feels like his entire body is on fire. The last thing he can remember is pushing Coran out of the way before.... His memories are blank. It feels like he’s been hit with a bus and when he tries to open his eyes, it’s a struggle. He hears people talking, but can’t decipher the words through the constant buzzing in his ears. There’s a sharp pain in his arm and he whimpers involuntarily. Lance hopes that Keith didn’t hear, he’d probably have a field day with how pathetic it sounded. His hearing is clearing up now, and he can make out some words. The voices don’t sound like any of the other Paladins though, so he tries once more to open his eyes.

  The sight that greets him as he adjusts to the light is one of Shiro skidding across the floor of what appears to be a Galra ship, if the purple lights and Galra soldiers are any indication. Lance gasps in surprise, and then groans in pain as his lungs protest. His hearing is back completely now, and he can clearly hear the ugly chuckle Sendak gives from behind him.

  “So you’re finally joining us, I see.” The sneer that takes over the Galrans face is toothy and Lance can’t help but feel a little bit like prey. He’s in too much pain to make a witty retort, though and just deigns to stay silent. That sentiment doesn’t last long as a foot connects with his ribs and Lance lets out an anguished cry. It feels like his lungs are collapsing and his ribs are breaking, and he sobs when the pressure doesn’t go away.

  “Stop it! Please stop!” Shiro yells from across the floor, making a move to get up. Sendak adds more pressure to his side and Lance screams, stopping Shiro in his tracks.

  “If you want him to live, you’ll behave.” An older Galran, with a hood pulled over its face says as it takes Shiro’s shoulders in it’s claws. Lance can’t tell what gender the thing is, but also doesn’t think he cares. He sees Shiro bow his head in submission, and feels the foot finally ease off of him.


	4. Chapter 4

[Lance POV] 

  Lance and Shiro are both dragged further into the Galra ship without much trouble. It's painful even to breath, so Lance doesn't even think to resist until they are shoving Shiro roughly into a cell and closing it.

  "Hey.. Wait.." He says, his voice raspy and weak. "Where are we going? Take me back there..." The sentries that have been dragging him don't even look in Lance's direction. His heartbeat picks up as the cell becomes indistinguishable from the other doors that line the hallway. "Where are we going?" He asks again, his voice impossibly small and tinged with fear now that Shiro isn't there to comfort him. Once again, Lance is ignored by his captors.

  After what feels like many aching minutes, the Sentries stop and the whoosh of a door opening before them rings in Lance's ears. He doesn't have time to struggle as they hoist him off the ground and slam him none-too-gently into a pod. His eyes grow wide as the pod shuts and the low hum of activation puts him to sleep again.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my little hiatus! I moved to a new apartment and there was no WiFi for a bit.  
> I'm back now!

Shiro POV

The door shuts and Shiro hears the familiar sound of the lock shifting heavily into place. He remains huddled around himself for several seconds after it does, breathing heavily as he fights off a flashback. He doesn’t have time for that right now, he needs to come up with a plan to escape with Lance.  
Shiro of course realizes that he needs to find Lance first. He doesn’t know where the Galra have taken the blue paladin and he won’t be able to find out from in here. From the looks of it, Shiro is in solitary confinement, probably until he and Lance can be presented to Zarkon. An angry shiver runs through him at the thought of seeing Zarkon again.

It feels as though hours pass before Shiro hears anything but the sound of his own breathing. The door is opened with a deafening screech and Lance is unceremoniously thrown into the cell. He still looks worse for wear, but he’s been healed enough that he rolls over and holds out his hands to the guards.  
“You can undo the cuffs now.” He says snarkily. The sentries don’t respond as the door shuts again, leaving them together in the dark.

“Lance! Are you ok? What happened?” Shiro wastes no time in asking all the obvious questions that have been rolling around inside his head for the entire time they’ve been separated. He scoots over to his companion and helps him to sit up. Shiro doesn’t miss the hiss of pain that Lance tries to hide.  
“They podded me, and I guess healed me?” Lance has this quizzical look on his face, so it’s obvious he doesn’t know whats going on either. Shiro grimaces. There can’t be a good reason for the Galra to heal their enemy from near death, meaning that something bad is going to happen pretty soon.  
“Well, at least for now we know that they want to keep us alive.” Shiro’s voice is stoic and he puts on a brave face for whatever is to come.


	6. Chapter 6

Haggar POV

“Lord Zarkon, we have brought you the Blue and Black Paladins. Without these two, they will not be able to form Voltron. They will not be able to stop you on your great conquest.” Haggar’s smirks from ear to ear. She knows that she’ll soon get to play with her newly acquired toys, once Zarkon is done with them. The Witch looks over to the two alien forms, bound and on their knees, glaring at her leader. They’ve had to gag the Blue Paladin because he wouldn’t shut up, and even now he seems to be making an effort to hide his panic with words. 

Zarkon leans forward from his throne, his sharp teeth making an appearance as his smile widens. Both the Paladins stare at him with hatred in their eyes, and Haggar can see the Champions jaw is set in anger. She allows herself a private chuckle at the prisoners, knowing all too well that their anger would soon be turned to fear.

“So, you thought you could defeat us?” Lord Zarkons voice echoes through the throne room. “But you don’t know the true power you’re facing. And how can you win a fight when you’re blind to the threat that attacks you?” A derisive laugh follows his words. “No. It’s useless. Even more now that we have you in our grasp.”

Haggar can see the Paladins panic in their eyes and she has never felt more alive. Lord Zarkon looks to her, and a knowing smirk plays on his lips. 

“Haggar! Show these Paladins what the Galra Empire is capable of.” And with that, he dismisses them. The prisoners are dragged away, though neither seems to be willing to go quietly. But that suits the Witch just fine. They would be compliant soon enough.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter yet! They're going to get longer from here.

Lance POV 

 

  Lance squirms, and kicks, and struggles against the rough hands that are pulling him away from Shiro again. He would be the last person to ever admit it out loud, but he was scared to be alone. There was no telling what the Galra had planned for them, but Lance knew that whatever it was it would majorly suck. His thoughts are interrupted as he led into a cold, metal room that reminds him too much of a surgery room he once saw on TV. The air smells sharp like a disinfectant, and he really REALLY doesn't want to know why the Galra needed to clean this room so thoroughly. Lance takes in as much of the room as he can, before returning his attention to his captors. He still has the gag on, so he can't do much but glare at the sentries as they prepare straps on a slanted table.

  "Prepare the Paladin for our session, and make sure he's secured. We wouldn't want a runaway, now would we." Lance's blood turns cold at the sound of the Witch's voice behind him. A shiver runs down his spine, and he tries to gulp in some air, only to be thwarted by the awful mask that is impeding his speech. He starts to hyperventilate a little, sweat beading in his hairline as all the horror films he's ever watched flash through his mind.

  Suddenly he's being pushed towards the table, and Lance decides he does not want to be a part of this 'session'. He digs in his heels and tries to resist, but he is met with a hard punch to his side. Stunned and unable to catch his breath, Lance becomes pliant in the sentries hands as they strap him onto the cold metal slab. They undo his cuffs, only to pull his arms out to a painful spread eagle position. And then, they leave him there.

  The room is dark, cold, and very intimidating and Lance struggles not to cry in his panic. He can't tell how long he's left here, but oh, he wishes Shiro could find him. Save him. Get them both out of here, and back to the Castle. Back to their friends. Lance stares into the pitch blackness, and he could swear his eyes are adjusting when the door opens, and he's blinded by the sudden light.

  "Lance!" Shiro's voice rings in his ears, and Lance sees now that Shiro's being strapped to a similar metal table parallel to his own. His leader is straining against the table, snarling at the guards that hold him down and Lance has never seen him so riled up. It's a jarring to think that the ever calm, stoic Shiro is panicking as much as he is. Lance calls out to him, tries to tell Shiro that it's going to be alright. Whatever this is, they'll get through it. But he is muffled by the gag and his efforts are in vain. In fact, Shiro seems all the more agitated when he hears Lance's muffled voice.

  And then, the Witch enters the room with Sendak by her side. Lance is both scared and seething, unable to decide which emotion is stronger at the moment.  Haggar walks to his side and reaches to his face, removing the gag.

  "There. Isn't that better?" She says with mock concern. Lance gulps in a few deep breaths of air, glad to be rid of the obstruction.

  "I want to hear you when you beg for mercy." The witch's breath is in Lance's ear and he grimaces. Haggar trails a hand down Lance's side lightly, and it makes him feel super violated. He squirms away from her touch, but he's strapped in pretty tight. The witch is looking at Shiro now, but she still has her hand on Lance and it bothers him that she's kind of ignoring him.

  "So, Champion. You've been given a choice." Haggar addresses Shiro, but Lance isn't paying her any attention because he's noticed that Sendak is circling behind Shiro. He watches as the Galra general takes his leader's chin in his flesh hand and forces him to look into Haggar's gross yellow eyes. Lance feels the witch press her claw-like fingers into his side with only a little pressure as she continues to speak.

  "You can re-enter the arena as the Champion, or you can watch this one-" The pressure increases drastically and Lance cries out in pain "-take whatever punishment I deem fit. Lord Zarkon thinks you're too valuable to harm. But the Blue Paladin?" Haggar's fingers dig into the pressure point in Lance's side especially hard, making him gasp and throw his head back. "He is expendable."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dudes! I started a blog for my fics! http://laikawrites.tumblr.com/  
> Come yell at me for stuff there. I'm currently taking drabble requests


	8. Chapter 8

Shiro POV 

Shiro knows better than to struggle against the sentries as they drag him down the hall to some unknown fate, but that doesn't mean he isn't dragging his heels as he tries to figure out where they're going. His heart's still pounding after seeing Zarkon in the flesh again, and his head is throbbing in time with his heartbeat. Try as he might, Shiro doesn't recognize this hallway. The nondescript metal walls and purple lights that line them are all too similar to tell apart, and it makes him anxious.

Finally, they seem to reach their destination as Shiro is pulled into a room he does recognize. It's a cleaning station, and he is suddenly being stripped of his Paladin under armor before the sentries roughly scrub him down. It's a process he's used to, considering they'd done it before and after every fight in the arena. It used to be a small comfort in a world of blood and grime, and Shiro finds himself calming down as he's cleaned. When he realizes he's calm because it's familiar, Shiro tastes bile in his throat and the blood leaves his face. He's not a gladiator anymore. He's not theirs. And he certainly isn't falling back into his old prisoner survival habits. Or that's what he tells himself as a prisoners jumpsuit is shoved into his uncuffed hands, and he changes into it purely on instinct.

Shiro hates himself a little bit in this moment. Here he is, taking comfort in a hot shower while the Galra were probably doing unspeakable things to... That's right. Lance. Shiro had almost forgotten he wasn't the only prisoner Sendak had taken. He cannot believe he'd almost made such a mistake. He cannot believe he'd almost thought he'd dreamed his time with the Paladins of Voltron. The sentries have taken this moment to put his cuffs back on, and lead him out of the warm shower room, bringing him down the metal halls again.

It feels like they're walking for a long time, though that could just be because all the halls in this ship look exactly the same. Shiro's jaw is set, and he's dragging his heels once again. All the torturous things they could be doing to Lance flash through his head along with memories of his own experiences, and he unconsciously growls. His face feels hot and before he knows it, his jaw is aching from being clenched shut in anger. Shiro realizes they've stopped walking, and he looks around the room. It's a large security station, with several screens lining one wall atop a console. He notices that the screens show several cells and a few other rooms, but what catches Shiro's eye is the lanky human form strapped to a table on one of the dark monitors. In fact, he's so busy looking for signs of life from Lance's prone body on the screen that he doesn't notice Sendak approach him until the Galra commander is directly in front of him.

"Like what you see, Champion?" Sendak smirks and looms over Shiro, who shrinks a little out of reflex. "He's been awfully well behaved. Too bad we'll have to let the Druids have a turn with him." Shiro tenses at the mention of the Druids, and bares his teeth. Before he can reply, however, Sendak continues. "That is, unless you agree to rejoin the gladiatorial arena."

"What!?" Shiro starts, his eyes widen as he understands the threat. "You can't be serious.." He mutters, looking away from Sendak.

With a shrug, Sendak turns away from him. "Well, I guess we'll have to show you how serious we are." Shiro is forced to follow the Galra commander out the door and down the hall again, until they come to a halt before a cell. Haggar is there, waiting for them it would seem. Sendak exchanges a few quiet words with the witch and she smiles a wide, toothy grin that Shiro knows all too well.

Shiro struggles against the sentries this time, as they roughly strap him to a hard metal slab opposite Lance. He looks over to his teammate and sees the look of fear there, making him fight harder.

"Lance!" He calls out. Shiro can't think straight he's so angry, and when he hears muffled cries coming from Lance (who still has that awful gag on, he notices) Shiro sees red. But despite all that, his struggles are in vain and he is strapped tightly to the table. Shiro watches Haggar and Sendak enter the room and tries to focus on Lance instead of them. Haggar is speaking while removing the gag from Lances face, but Shiro doesn't hear the witch's words. He's too focused on trying to think of a way out.

"So Champion. You've been given a choice." Shiro winces at the use of the name. Haggar has his attention now, but he' still looking at Lance who is squirming uncomfortably under the witches touch. 

Shiro's jaw is taken roughly into a strong hand, and he can only assume it belongs to Sendak. It wrenches his head towards Haggar and forces him to look into her flat, yellow eyes. His stomach churns as yet another unpleasant memory flits past his vision.

"You can re-enter the arena as the Champion, or you can watch this one-" Lance cries out and Shiro winces. "-take whatever punishment I deem fit. Lord Zarkon thinks you're too valuable to harm. But the Blue Paladin? He is expendable." 

There is a dim purple glow around the druid's claws as she presses them into Lance's side and Shiro yells out along with him, knowing just how painful it could be when the witch used her magic on a pressure point. It was very similar to a taser shock. 

"Stop! STOP!" Shiro screamed out the word over and over, until Haggar finally let up on Lance and he went slack in his restraints. Shiro could see he was breathing heavily, and he felt the ghosts of similar shocks in his own system. 

"Have you made a decision, Champion?" Haggar smirked, showing her teeth. Shiro looked down, finally being released from Sendak's grip as the Galra commander stalked around to look at him as well. Shiro took a moment to take a deep breath in, before giving his ans-

"Shiro, don't you DARE take them up on it." Lance interrupted Shiro's thoughts. His voice was weak, and he flinched when Haggar shot him a glare, but the conviction in his eyes said it all. "Don't listen to them! They'll probably just kill me behind your back if you agree, anyway." Tears stung the edges of Shiro's eyes, but he didn't get the chance to reply.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to try again tomorrow." Sendak growled, leaving the room as the sentries came back in. They grabbed Lance first, putting the muzzle-like gag back on him as he struggled and thrashed. Haggar got right up in Shiro's face, until he could feel her breath on his cheek.

"Looks like he made the choice for you. Ha. Humans are such weak creatures, he will break before long." And with that, she exited.

Shiro was taken back to his cell, and found himself alone again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More torture ahead! Fair warning, it's pretty brutal.

Lance POV

 

It's cold in his cell. It's bare, and lonely and cold. Lance thinks that the Galra should look into central heating, because it seems like every room he's tossed into is cold. He's been stripped of his underarmour, and given a thin prisoners outfit to wear. He doesn't like the feel of it and just KNOWS it's going to chafe, but puts it on anyway. He's curled up into himself when the sentries come to feed him.

"Where's Shiro?" Lance asks, though he's aware he won't get an answer. "What are you doing to him?" When he gets up and steps towards the sentries, they push him back down roughly. He feels the bruises from the 'session' he had with Haggar and holds his side while the door slides shut once more. Lance is upset, in pain and scared.

"I'm a Paladin of Voltron." He says it out loud as if reminding himself. "I'm a Paladin of Voltron and I'm getting out of here." He picks up the gray squishy block he's been given and manages to swallow most of it down.

It's hard to tell time in his cell, but he sleeps and wakes up before the sentries are back to pick him up so Lance assumes it's been close to a day cycle. He's roughly cuffed and dragged out of the room, and this time Lance doesn't struggle or say anything. He figures he has a better chance of fighting off the Galra and escaping if he's got Shiro with him.

When he's led into the same room as yesterday, Lance stiffens. His bruised ribs ache, and he flinches as he's lead and cuffed back onto the cold table. He struggles a little as his arms and legs are strapped in, but it's useless and he soon gives up on it. He takes a closer look at the room, and notices that the other table is missing. The change makes Lance nervous, and his thoughts are suddenly interrupted when the table swings back so he's lying on a slope. The blood is rushing to his head and Lance grunts as all his weight is held by his ankles.

"What's happening? Where's Shiro?" He asks, his voice strained. The robed Galra that have surrounded him don't answer, but he sees one of them smirk and Lance whips his head around, looking for his comrade.

"The Black Paladin won't be joining us today." One of the Galra finally speaks up. "We've been given permission to extract information from you, so it doesn't concern him."

Lance doesn't like the sound of that. He doesn't like it one bit. He's panicking again, though he tries his best not to let it show on his face. He thinks back to his training at the Garrison, when they talked about torture and how to hold back information. Lance closes his eyes and curses his short attention span as none of the facts he can recall are useful right now.

This thought is interrupted as a cloth is thrown over his face, and Lances entire body goes rigid. He is suddenly very aware of what is about to happen, and he's not ready for it as the first splash of water hits him. He gasps, but no air comes through and Lance cries out silently. He thrashes around in his bonds, but they hold fast. Lance throws his head to the side, trying to get the cloth off, but his head is gripped between strong hands and he can't move.

He can't move. He can't breathe. His lungs are screaming and he feels bile crawl up his throat as he's waterboarded without mercy. Finally, when Lance thinks he might pass out, the cloth is removed and he greedily sucks in air. He chokes a little on his own bile, and his head is turned roughly to the side so he can throw up.

"Now. Where are the Lions of Voltron? What are the weaknesses of the Paladins?" A firm voice rings in Lances ears. He can't even come up with a witty comeback, due to shock. The Galra tsks and the cloth is replaced on his face.

This goes on for what feels like forever. Lance feels like he's drowning, and it hurts. It hurts so badly he's wishing he would just _pass out already._ But everytime he thinks he might, the Galrans bring him back and question him. His wrists and ankles are rubbed raw from thrashing and convulsing, and he thinks he might have broken something in his hand because it hurts badly.He never talks, though. He's being tortured, and he feels like he's _dying_ but he never says a word.

He is suddenly released from his bonds and he falls to the floor in a heap. He can't do anything but breathe shallowly as the sentries are ushered back into the room to fetch him.

"I am ....a Paladin of.... Voltron... Won't ever... betray m'friends...."

His weak, shaky defiance earns him a punch to the gut that sends him spiraling into unconsciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I suck and I died and a LOT of things happened to me.  
> But I am back! And I have an ending for this fic! So I'm not on hiatus anymore! Have this new chapter as an apology!
> 
> Also, this chapter was beta'd by the awesome [darkinsanity13](http://archiveofourown.org/users/darkinsanity13)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you didn't catch it, this story is set before Pidge reveals her identity. So, from Keith's point of view, Pidge is a boy. Let's not be weird about pronouns, kay?

[Keith POV]

 

“It’s been three days, and we haven’t even formed a proper battle plan. We have to go save Shiro!”  


Keith was burning. He had just gotten Shiro back, and suddenly he was gone again? Gone to suffer some unknown fate at the hands of a purple chinchilla? He wasn’t about to sit here and take it quietly.

“Hey! We want to save Shiro and Lance just as badly as you do, but we can’t just burst in there without a solid plan. That would be suicide!” Hunk tries to reason with him, and it does make sense. However, it doesn’t make Keith any less angry.

It had taken them hours to sweep the castle for any sign of Shiro and Lance, but to no avail. When they finally discovered the empty pod bay, it was already too late to track its coordinates. The Galrans hadn’t managed to get any of the lions, but they had taken something equally as precious.

Slamming his hand down on the table, Keith takes his leave. He can’t sit around and do nothing!

“If you won’t go to save them, I will.” He grunts as a hand on his shoulder stops him. He turns around to come face to face with Princess Allura.

“I know how hard this must be for you-” Keith doesn’t give her time to finish.

“What could you possibly know? You don’t know anything! Not about us, not about this era!” He pulls his shoulder away roughly, and heads for the doors. He almost turns around and takes a swing when he feels another hand on his elbow.

“Keith. They’re going to be okay.” Pidge's voice is shaky at best. “Shiro survived a whole year as a prisoner. They can survive one more day while we come up with a foolproof not-totally-batshit-insane plan to find and rescue them.”

Keith sucks in a slow breath, and releases it along with the tension in his body. He looks away from Pidge.

“Okay. Let’s get planning then.”


	11. Chapter 11

Shiro POV

The next time Shiro sees Lance, he's hanging upside down by his ankles. It feels like it's been days since he last saw the other Paladin and he's glad to see him regardless of the means.

Shiro is shoved roughly into the cell and he lands on his knees hard, since his hands are bound behind him. The door shuts with a whoosh, and he's left alone in the dark with a seemingly unconcious Lance. He shuffles forward as well as he can and as he gets closer he can see the bruises, dark and swollen, that litter the Blue Paladins face and upper body.

He sits back and yanks his arms under his legs, putting them in front of his body. It's unusal that the Galra have been so lax with his bonds, but he doesn't question it as he scrambles to find a release button on the cuffs around Lance's ankles. He doesn't manage to find one before he hears a low groaning sound coming from Lance.

"Lance! I'm here buddy, don't worry. I'm gonna get you down."

Lance goes stiff under Shiro's hands and suddenly he is thrashing around frantically, as if trying to escape. He's making these small distressed sounds so Shiro backs up, his bound lifted hands in front of him.

"It's ok! Lance! It's me, Shiro!" He can hear the distress in his own voice as he tries to calm his companion down. What could the Galra have done to evoke this kind of panic? Surely just a beating wouldn't have Lance this freaked out.

"IS IT?!" Lance shrieks, surprising him. "'CAUSE I AM NOT FALLING FOR THIS AGAIN!" Lance's voice is hoarse and scratchy, as though he's been screaming or crying for hours. Shiro winces at the sound.

"Falling for what... Lance you're not making any sense. Let me help you down." Shiro approaches slowly, but Lance swings his body again with all his might, knocking Shiro back.

"STAY AWAY!" Lance's voice cracks and it's easy to tell he's crying. Shiro's heart breaks at the sound, and he is filled with hatred for the Galra all over again. it's one thing to hurt him and make him their Champion. It's another thing entirely to hurt Lance like this.

"I wanna believe you..." He whispers. "But can I?" It sounds as though it might be a rhetorical question.

Shiro raises his hands slowly again, showing Lance the cuffs that bind him. He doesn't want to startle the Blue Paladin, so he moves with as much caution as he can.

"Lance. I just want to get you down from there. All the blood if rushing to your head and you're not thinking straight." He takes a step forward, waiting to see the reaction.

There's a silent beat between them, and Lance's shaky sobs fill the room. Shiro takes another tentative step forward. Lance seems to be gauging him, and Shiro takes another step forward, and another until he's standing close to Lance again. He raises his hands to Lance's ankles, and the paladin flinches but he doesn't struggle like he did before.

Finally, after some effort, there's a click and the cuffs around Lance's ankles release sending him falling to the floor. Immediately, Lance crawls quickly as he can away from Shiro and sits with his back facing the corner of the room. His arms are tied behind his back, so he pulls his knees to his chest awkwardly.

 _Lance looks so small._ Shiro can't help but think with some sadness. _He's just a kid, after all._

He sits down in front of Lance.

"What did those galra bastards do to you?" He asked quietly. Lance won't look at him, but Shiro still hasn't clued in as to why. Lance gives him a quick once over and tucks his chin into his knees, muffling his voice just a little.

"It wasn't _them_ that did this to me." He replies, his voice almost silent. "It was _you._ "


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently at work as I write this between calls haha.  
> Weekends suck in a call center.

Haggar's POV

"He's having interesting results, Lady Haggar." The Druid scientist holds a glowing tablet out for her to take. The Blue Paladins vitals and brainwaves reflect brightly off the screen, and Haggar can't help the smirk that stretches across her face.

"How fascinating. We've sent 3 clones of the Champion in to see him, and he still reacts as though it's the real one." She chuckles. "It's almost insane."

"Ma'am?" The scientists head cocks sideways in puzzlment, and Haggar puts the tablet down on her work station. She sighs and explains.

"He's experiencing the same thing over and over but he expects different results each time.. That's the very definitinon of insanity."

Haggar turns to look through the one-way wall where the Blue Paladin is enduring yet another beating. It's set up so she can observe the experiment but the subjects cannot see or hear anything from the other side, which allows her to view the subjects uninhibited responses.

Over the past few day cycles, Haggar has been testing the Blue Paladin. He's not physically strong enough for the arena, that was clear from the beginning. However, he's shown considerable mental strength in the face of tests and torture. No matter how much she poked or prodded him, the Blue Paladin refused to give up any information. Despite how frustrating that was for her druids, Haggar found herself looking forward to each new session with him. It had been a while since she'd had a toy that didn't break right away.

"I wonder how many times it will take to make him tick." Her voice was dripping with dark curiosity. She turned on the sound for the subjects room, in order to hear the results in the making.

"Shiro! Please stop! It's me! Lanc-" The Blue paladins wail was cut off with a particularly nasty kick to the face from the clone. It was the same plea he'd been making for a while.

Turning the sound off, Haggar turned back to her assistant. "Make this the last clone for the day. Once he's asleep, send in the real Champion. Report to me the results. I want the Blue Paladin to bend to my will."

 


End file.
